002 Wicked Willys Back Detail - Photo 02

This is what our first 505ci Dodge/Chrysler RB looked like a few days before we found the crack that everyone had missed. See the small “x” on the motor mount boss? That indicated a small repairable crack we took to have TIG’d up. That repair was a success. On the other side of the engine was an all-but-invisible hairline crack at least 1-inch long through the block. It passed down from the motor mount boss and into the water jacket of the engine. It might have been repairable if the engine wasn’t fully machined and assembled (if the machine shop would have caught it), but unfortunately, some well-intentioned TIG work ruined the block despite pre- and post-heating with an oxyacetylene torch. Oh well. Time to move on.